A sickly fellow ridiculed by the entire army? I'll be the most beautiful woman in the barracks!

"Sister Zhiqing, is something wrong?"

Seeing Lin Zhiqing's strange behavior, Li Weiwei couldn't help but ask the question that had been bothering her.

Lin Zhiqing then turned around, her breathing rapid, but her eyes were frighteningly bright. She lowered her voice, only letting a few people hear her.

"It's not inappropriate, it's a major discovery!"

"The fine sand in that stream contains gold, and the rock of this mountain wall is iron-colored and heavy. The land around these mountains is fertile, but the mountains themselves are barren."

"I believe there's a high-quality iron ore vein hidden beneath these mountains, along with associated gold deposits!"

As soon as Lin Zhiqing finished speaking, Shen Qingci and the others were startled and couldn't help but exchange glances to make sure they hadn't misheard.

Shen Qingci then lowered her voice and said urgently, "Iron ore, and gold ore! Zhiqing, this place is actually a mineral vein?"

Seeing Lin Zhiqing nod with a serious expression, Shen Qingci's face immediately lit up with joy, and he couldn't help but turn around to look at the mountain range.

Lin Zhiqing possesses extraordinary talent in alchemy and cosmology, and finding mineral veins is also a branch of cosmology.

Shen Qingci and the others were well aware of Lin Zhiqing's talent, so they naturally had no doubt about her judgment.

"Not bad!" After a moment, Shen Qingci nodded.

"This place is remote and desolate; it must have been unnoticed in the past to have hidden such a mineral deposit!"

"If mining can be successful, the gold mines can supply the military, and the iron mines can be used to forge armor and weapons, which would be a tremendous help to you, sir, in guarding the northern frontier!"

Li Weiwei jumped up in excitement.

"Zhiqing, you're amazing! You just went out for a stroll and discovered a mineral vein! You're truly my lucky star!"

As she spoke, she looked around and muttered, "Let's quickly memorize this place. When we reach Black Mountain Pass, we'll immediately tell my husband and have him send people to mine it!"

Seeing Li Weiwei looking around excitedly, her face practically screaming "I've made a major discovery," Lin Zhiqing couldn't help but step forward and pat Li Weiwei on the shoulder.

"Weiwei, don't worry, this mine isn't going anywhere, there's no rush. But you, you should calm down, this matter shouldn't be publicized."

"If outsiders discover this, it will likely create complications and be detrimental to us!"

"Look, this place is indefensible. Once it's leaked, it will attract other people to fight over it, and it might even be targeted by officials in the capital. Then there will be endless trouble."

Upon hearing Shen Qingci's words, Li Weiwei was startled and tried her best to calm herself down, forcibly suppressing the joy on her face.

His expression was somewhat distorted, clearly indicating that he was holding it in and feeling uncomfortable.

Shen Qingci took out the plain silk and charcoal pencil she carried with her and quickly sketched the surrounding valley terrain, stream course, and rock wall markings from memory.

He then asked Lin Zhiqing a few more questions, memorized the approximate locations of the mineral deposits, and carefully folded the blueprints, keeping them close to his body.

"First, go to the Black Mountain Pass to find the gentleman. This matter is of great importance, and the specific handling of it is entirely up to the gentleman to decide."

Shen Qingci lowered his voice and whispered a word of advice to Li Shishi and the other girls before leading them back to their temporary camp.

Li Shishi and the others followed behind Shen Qingci, all trying their best to control their facial expressions.

Having grown up with a wide range of knowledge, they naturally understood what it meant when a high-quality iron ore mine also contained gold.

Its value is enough to support a powerful army of 100,000 people.

Unbeknownst to anyone, beneath this desolate mountain wilderness lies a foundation of wealth, provisions, and military strength capable of altering the entire world's格局 (geju, a concept encompassing economic, social, and organizational structure).

This weighty opportunity was being personally brought to Zhao Daxuan's side by Lin Zhiqing and the others.

Although Shen Qingci and the others tried their best to control their emotions, apart from Shen Qingci, Li Shishi and the others were still a bit too weak, and the soldiers could still see it.

However, as Yue Zhenyuan's personal guards, they were all well-trained and knew not to ask questions they shouldn't ask. Therefore, the guards were all doing their own thing.

Only one soldier, after seeing the unusual reaction of Lin Zhiqing and the others, lowered his head without making a sound, a strange light flashing in his eyes.

Then, when no one was watching, he secretly grabbed a handful of fine sand from the stream and quietly picked up a stone that had been knocked off the mountain wall, stuffing it into his pack.

Nothing happened that night. The next morning, Li Weiwei, who usually loved to sleep in, was the first to urge everyone to get up.

"Sister, sister, hurry, hurry!"

"Hurry up and pack, let's get going!"

Li Weiwei was so excited about meeting Zhao Daxuan that she couldn't sleep last night and woke up early this morning.

In addition, he had an important message to tell Zhao Daxuan, so he urged everyone to set off early in the morning.

Li Shishi gave a wry smile, yawned, and got up to tidy up. Shen Qingci and the others did the same.

The women didn't get much rest last night either, for reasons similar to Li Weiwei's.

However, after a night of rest, they were able to control their emotions.

The convoy quickly packed up and set off again.

Lin Zhiqing drew back the curtains, gazing longingly at this precious place, silently vowing, "I will come back!"

At this point, the convoy was not far from the Black Mountain Pass. Less than half a day later, the convoy suddenly stopped.

"The Black Mountain Pass lies ahead. Who are you?"

A powerful voice rang out, and a group of armored cavalry patrolling around the Black Mountain Pass blocked the advancing convoy.

Among the Xuanjia cavalry, a man who appeared to be the leader rode out and curiously looked at the caravan in front of him.

Before the soldiers outside could answer, Li Weiwei sensed the carriage stop and heard the sounds outside, so she curiously lifted the curtain and peeked out.

The next moment, a familiar figure appeared, and my eyes lit up.

"Ah Liang, is that you?"

Li Weiwei exclaimed excitedly, "Where's my husband? Where is he?"

Seeing A Liang naturally meant that Zhao Daxuan was not far away from her.

Ah Liang looked in the direction of the sound and immediately saw Li Weiwei's extraordinary face, and his face showed surprise.

"Madam, what are you doing here!"

Li Shishi and her sister previously set up steam machinery at a temporary camp in Wangbei Village outside Zhenbei City, and many soldiers in the Wangbei Camp recognized them.

"It's not just me here, all my sisters and I are here. You still haven't told me, where is my husband?"

Seeing that A Liang did not answer her question, Li Weiwei frowned and asked again.

Upon hearing this, Ah Liang scratched his head. "Lord Zhao should have gone to inspect the collapsed section of the mountain road outside Black Mountain Pass today. He should be returning to Black Mountain Pass soon."

"Ladies, how about we escort you to the Black Mountain Pass? Although we have wiped out the two main tribes on this small plain, there are still a few Tartars who used to be stationed in Han villages wandering around."

Li Weiwei readily agreed, so she smiled and nodded, "Then hurry up and lead the way!"